Explore 102 historical events from 1780–1789.
Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg was a German politician and the most important statesman in the Principality of Münster in the second half of the 18th century. Fürstenberg …
Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster
John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved in…
John Adams sworn in as first US Vice President (nine days before George Washington)
Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily was Queen of the French by marriage to Louis Philippe I, King of the French. She was the last Queen of the French.
Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Queen of France (died 1866)
Johann Ludwig Uhland was a German poet, philologist, literary historian, lawyer and politician.
Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (died 1862)
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditio…
John Franklin, English admiral and politician, fourth Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (died 1847)
The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader Amer…
American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by Britis
John James Audubon was a French-American artist, entrepreneur, naturalist, explorer, and ornithologist. His combined interests in painting and ornithology turned into a plan to mak…
John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (died 1851)
George Washington's reception at Trenton was a celebration hosted by the Ladies of Trenton social club on April 21, 1789, in Trenton, New Jersey, as George Washington, then preside…
George Washington's reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his firs
John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved in…
John Adams secures Dutch recognition of the United States as an independent government
George Washington was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces…
George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration
George Washington was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces…
George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration
Franz Joseph von Schlik of Bassano and Weisskirchen was a count and general in the Austrian Empire. He was one of the most successful Austrian generals during the Hungarian Revolut…
Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (died 1862)
John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved in…
John Adams sworn in as first US Vice President (nine days before George Washington)
George Washington's reception at Trenton was a celebration hosted by the Ladies of Trenton social club on April 21, 1789, in Trenton, New Jersey, as George Washington, then preside…
George Washington's reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his firs
The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred in the Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of HMS Bounty from the cap…
Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift, and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti brief
Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States established under the Constitution. Serving as the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the site o…
On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the
Katharina Buchwieser was a German operatic soprano and actress. She was known as Cathinka, and her married surname was Lacsny von Folkusfálva. She appeared at theatres of Vienna, t…
Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (died 1828)
Count Pyotr (Petr) Ivanovich Panin was a Russian soldier who later served as a general-in-chief in the Imperial Russian Army.
Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian general (born 1721)
Anders Dahl was a Swedish botanist and student of Carl Linnaeus. The dahlia flower is named after him.
Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist and physician (born 1751)
Fletcher Christian was an English sailor who led the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789, during which he seized command of the Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty from Lieutenant William Bligh.
Fletcher Christian, the acting lieutenant on board the Royal Navy ship Bounty, led a mutiny against the commander Willia
France, officially the French Republic, is a country primarily located in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre …
In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614
Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval was a French artillery officer and engineer who revolutionised the French cannon, creating a new production system that allo…
Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French general and engineer (born 1715)
George Washington's reception at Trenton was a celebration hosted by the Ladies of Trenton social club on April 21, 1789, in Trenton, New Jersey, as George Washington, then preside…
The Ladies of Trenton social club hosted a reception for President-elect George Washington as he journeyed to New York C
George Washington was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces…
George Washington (pictured) took the oath of office as the first president of the United States at Federal Hall in New
The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in London, England, was the first stage of a three-part project initiated in November 1786 by engraver and publisher John Boydell in an effort to fo…
The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, part of a cultural project initiated by engraver John Boydell, opened in London
Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States. It borders Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and D…
Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution
Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne was a French clergyman, bishop, cardinal, politician and finance minister of King Louis XVI.
King Louis XVI of France attempts to impose the reforms of Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne by abolishing the parle
South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern, South Atlantic and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean …
South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution
Charles Robert Cockerell was an English architect, archaeologist and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke and embarked on an extended Grand Tour lasting seven years,…
Charles Robert Cockerell, English architect, archaeologist, and writer (died 1863)
Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Friedrich Rückert, German poet and translator (died 1866)
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, and cosmologist. He held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Ja…
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (born 1707)
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli was an Italian medical doctor and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire"…
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician and botanist (born 1723)
Augustin-Jean Fresnel was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, fully supplanting Newto…
Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer (died 1827)
The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and the first…
After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum o